Dear FLE 304 Section 03 members,
For question writers, please indicate your name next to your question in paranthesis (e.g., Question (Seda Öztürk).
For the comment writers, you need to choose 2 questions and comment on them. Please try to write detailed comments and justify your views as well.
Please indicate which question you are responding to by indicating the question writer's name, e.g., (Seda Öztürk's question).
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here is my question(Seda Öztürk)
ReplyDeleteHow can an EFL teacher generate interest in students for a reading text? please share your creative ideas with us as prospective EFL teachers and please specify the level of your students, good luck:)
I want to respond seda's question.
ReplyDeleteActually, there are many ways of it but most important and essential one is selecting a reading text that has an enjoyable topic and is related to students' lives because if students read a text in which they can find interesting enjoyable and familiar topic , it may motivate them to read more than a topic that can not attract students' interests. After selecting a nice topic , the most important thing that teacher shoul be careful about is how to analyze the topic and which techniques will be used. There are lots of techniques we can use while reading a text but teachers should select it according to his or her students' levels. For example , top- down may be difficult to apply with beginner students because they may not understand the gist by just skimming the text since there may be many grammatical items or vocabularies they don't know in the text and they may need analyzing every line , sentence of the text.
Selecting and preparing good and creative exercises is as important as selecting the right topic and the technique.In order to understand whether students could comprehend the topic or not teacher should prepare good questions that can enable teacher to understand . For example; instead of just asking reading comprehension questions teacher can create more enjoyable activities such as creating a discussion on the topic of the text, asking clear and easy questions to enable students talk about their ideas related to the topic.
a question by dilara arpacı
ReplyDeleteWhat is the importance of the questions and the critiques in a reading activity? Do they influence students’ comprehension?
Let us hear your comments :)
Respond to Seda’s question:
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, authentic materials and cultural content are important factors, which generate interest in students. They have different roles in classroom environment:
Authentic materials:
-They have a positive effect on learner motivation.
-They provide authentic cultural information.
-They provide exposure to real language.
-They relate more closely to learners ' needs.
-They support a more creative approach to teaching.
Cultural content:
• Newspapers: these are a good source of cultural information: local papers will give more of a flavor of everyday life in towns.
• Video: a number of published ELT video tapes are a good visual source of cultural information. (Today, we have CD/DVD versions of these video tapes, which provide us with better quality.)
• Talks/discussions: some topics may be suitable for giving information to students in a plenary session.
• Role play/dramatizations: these can be used to initiate discussion and introspection.
• Culture quizzes/tests.
here is my comment for my dear friend seda's question=))
ReplyDeletewhen I think about reading a text, not so much good feelings come to my mind.it connates something boring for me.However, making generalization is to what extent correct,I am not sure.I think, it is in our hand to make something good or bad, enjoyful or boring.tihs is also valid for reading.we can make it enjoyful by different techniques.teacher has the primary role to make reading session enjoyful.s/he can use different ways to make students interest in the reading text.how can s/he decide to use which technique?while choosing strategy,she ought to consider student's proficiency level, age, social,economic background...First of all, for all levels, the reading text is to mean something to them.it must be realted to studetns' interest, lifestyle.I f they find the topic interesting, then it would be more easy for them to understand it.they would be more willing to read it. Another point is that,I think, making aware of them the consequences or contributions after reading is important.what I mean by this is that for example, before reading, I ask myself why I am reading this? what I gain after reading this? so the teacher ought to inform students about the advantages of reading that text.she should inform them about the purpose of the passage in other words.maybe not for making interesting,but making it easy, the teacher ought to be careful about the leevl of the passage and studetns level.they are to be parallel,otherwise as studetns wouldnt understand anything,then it would aslo boring for them. I think, in the text, students should find somthing about themselves,their lives.then it would become more interesting.so the context is really important.In addition, the teacher can make them do other exercises bout the topic rather than just reading. for example, role playing is really enjoyful and effective technique for young learners.they can more easily comprehend the context by acting.or they can do puzzles, matching activities which are also interesting for young learners.or the teacher can brnig and show pictures before reading,and so make them concentrate on the context.for older learners, the teacher can bring newspaper,magazines about the topic.or she can bring video or film.for example if the topic is realted to singer, they can listen his/her songs, the teacher brings his/her posters.so, reading should be supported by audio visual aids acocrding to students' level, age and interests.
my answer for dilara's question;
ReplyDeleteDilara, actually,ı couldnt understand exactly what you mean by critiques. However, I totally agree that questions have a great role in comprehension.but, actually by quesitons what you mean,again ı couldnt understand.what type of questions and in what stage?before reading or after reading questions??I think,before reading questions are very useful.ın fact it can be thought in two different aspect.first aspect is that to make students familiar with the topic,to raise their interest, the teacher can ask some quesitons befoe reading such as about the title or the picture.and these questions help them have a general idea.anoher aspect is that there may be some questions whics are supposed to be answered after reading.but at least to just looking at these questions before starting reading is also very helpful for comprehension.ıf you look at these questions before reading,then you become aware of what you are supposed to know by that reading and you read by considering these questions.what ı mean is that if you know the questions beforehand that you are supposed to be answer after reading, then you start reading with this consciousness,you know for what reason to read and you read by this consciousness.you just skim and search for that information and this both make comprehension easier and time-saving:))
here comes the question...
ReplyDelete1)Do you agree that it is a good idea to suggest the students to read graded(simplified such as stage 1...)reader books are they really useful especially when we look at the point of view of i+1 theory? (Merve Hopa)
Dear merve, as u can see in every dictionary, critique means review, criticism, critical analysis:) and in my opinion it is an important factor to increase the student comprehension. Therefore, in every reading activity students’ comments on the text should be taken into consideration.
ReplyDeleteWhen we come to questions, they are all kinds of questions in each stage of a reading activity. One of them is beforehand questions which u explained their aims clearly and perfectly. And we can add while-reading and post-reading questions to these category.
Thanx for your comments and pointing out the details:)
Here is my answer to Seda’s question:
ReplyDeleteGenerally, students don’t like reading. Especially, the texts which include scientific or encyclopedic information cause them to get bored. However, it is possible to attract students’ attention and make them curious about the text. For instance, in a class of intermediate students, teacher can show students some pictures related to the text which will be read. Before reading the text, the teacher may ask students to look at the pictures and comment on them. They may be asked to guess what the text is about. In this way, students become more involved in the lesson. They become curious about the text. So, reading activities turn out to be more enjoyable and interesting.
(my answer for merve hopa’s question)
ReplyDeleteMy dearest friend merve hopa
Graded books are beneficial for students to some extent. If they are used in beginner stages, they can prepare students for more complex readings. First grade and second grade can be applied at these stages. However the further grades are not useful in my opinion. The reason for that, is input+1. Students can manage and learn one stage further than theirs. Their capacities are enough for this. Therefore, graded books will not apply sufficient input for them. Another reason of disadvantages of graded books is their being not authentic. They generally written to teach that language, but one of the most effective ways of teaching and learning a second language is using authentic materials as intensive and extensive readings. The language in graded books is not natural. In a native environment, students cannot take them as basic materials.
Answering Seda's question:
ReplyDeleteI think the best way to get students involved in the process of reading a passage is to choose a funny text at least a topic that takes their attention this is valid for every language learner. Another way of making students interest in a reading text is to ask question before they read the passage. These may require some real life experience to answer or some pondering.
They prepare the students for the coming passage and familiarize the topic for them. The teacher is also responsible for making sure the students that reading is beneficial both for their world and linguistic knowledge. The students must know that they read for a purpose. Another way of making the reading process an enjoyable one is that the passage must contain linked unknown words this is especially good for beginner or low proficient learners( a passage about global warming with words related to it) This helps students build up a schema and reaching the knowledge when needed. The teacher should give the students short passages. some videos that is shown before or after reading can be useful, too. Watching films about the topic of the text is also a good way. Playing games out of the passage. Thought provoking questions about the title, barainstorming and many countless activities makes the reading enjoyable but I think the most necessary thing is a warm classroom environment good relationships between the students and teacher. It makes all the activities more enjoyable and bearable.
I am answering your question Dilara:)
ReplyDeleteQuestions are of great significance for the students to understand what is in the passage. In the earlier levels of learning teacher may pose some questions to arise curiosity of the students. But later on the students must be able to ask questions to themselves while reading the passage. All types of questions contributes students' understanding the reading material. The teacher should especially ask challenging questions to students that have a high prficiency level in english. This way the teacher can direct them to make research.
Here is my answer to Merve Hopa’s question:
ReplyDeleteI agree with my friend Dilara. Graded reader books are good for students of beginner and elementary levels. As they are written with a simpler language, students don’t spend time trying to understand what is said in the book. They become highly motivated to read more. These books offer pleasure for them. However, they may be of little use for students of higher levels. As their proficiency level gets higher, they may need authentic materials to improve their knowledge of that language. Authentic materials include current and natural use of language, so they are abound in input. If students want to heighten their proficiency level, they need to deal with newspapers, magazines and/or books written for the speakers of that language.
Here is my response to Seda's question:
ReplyDeleteAn EFL teacher should generate interest in students for a reading text; in other words s/he should make them enjoy while learning; otherwise reading will become torture to them. To do this, teacher can make use of authentic and challenging texts. According to these texts, s/he can make students do different kinds of reading exercises apart from the traditional ones such as multiple choice because these are extremely limited in their potential as learning activities. At the same time students may not be interested in them because they are very familiar and old-fashioned for them. This doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be used. I accept that they are also useful but not enough. They should be fortified with creative ones such as predicting, pupil-generated questions, segmenting, text completion, etc. to make the comprehension explicit and reading interesting. After choosing such materials and activities, teacher should provide students with topical framework for analyzing the text. Silent reading of the text should be followed with an oral reading of it by the teacher or one of the students; or if it is possible, teacher can have students listen to the text from a native speaker with the help of a tape, voice recorder, etc. It is also a good technique to make students interact with the text and each other to make reading interesting for them because if they just read a text and answer a few questions related to it, they can be bored. To avoid this, they should discuss about alternative interpretations, comment or do pair or group work. It can be also suggested to use visual or diagrammatic representations of the texts, especially this is effective for the students who are at young ages. As we see, there are many possibilities to arouse interest and curiosity in students for reading.
My dear friend Dilara, I answer your question:
ReplyDeleteI think the questions and the critiques related to text absolutely have impact on students’ comprehension. They are important because they are the things that make reading worthwhile activity for the students. Without questioning what we read, we will become in a situation in which we read without understanding. With the help of the questions and the critiques, we analyze the text in depth, reach conclusions and gain information. These are the reasons that we become aware of what we know about the text, how much we comprehended it, in what ways it can be useful for us, etc.
Through the answers to these various questions, we can grasp the meaning that we missed. They can provide us with the different points of view related to text. Reading actively that means asking questions and then reading for answers is a good strategy to increase comprehension. The questions and the critiques give students opportunities to go beyond the texts and evaluate what they read. With the help of them, students get out of the text as nearly as possible the message or the point that the writer put into it. However, the questions and the critiques shouldn’t be exaggerated because always questioning and getting stuck in every detail may hinder the whole understanding of the text, so students and teachers should be balanced in this issue.
Here is my answer to Seda Öztürk question:
ReplyDeleteI think that the EFL teacher should choose the appropriate reading text to generate the students’ interest. Choosing the appropriate reading text has tremendous effect on student. If the EFL teacher chooses a reading passage which is related to the students’ lives or their culture, then the students want to read the text more quickly and more efficiently. In addition to this, it will help them comprehend the passage more easily. To be able to choose the best topic for the students, the EFL teacher should regard the students’ level, age and their culture. For example, if you are a teacher of the group of beginner students who are at the age of 10, you are not supposed to choose a text which consists of academic terms because they are not likely to know the terms so you should not expect them to read ambitiously. In this situation, the teacher can choose a topic which is appropriate to their age and level.
Here is my answer to Dilara Arpacı’s question:
ReplyDeleteOf course, the questions and the critiques are really crucial in the reading activity. After the students read the reading passage, the whole class tries to answer the question in order to comprehend it. Actually, the questions and the critiques help both students and the teacher to be able to see whether they understand the passage or not. It is quite natural that some of the students may not get the point and have questions in their minds. By answering the questions, they are able to understand the passage and if they have questions, they can ask and learn which help them comprehend it better. Also, when they agree or disagree any point, they can express their ideas. Thus, they can critique any point and it is very beneficial them to get the point.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere is my question ( gülden ordu )
ReplyDeleteHow do you think reading things in English just for pleasure (like newspapers magazines etc) contributes to the students' progress in different fields of this language?
Here is my answer to Seda’s question
ReplyDeleteI think reading is both one of the most enjoyable and the most dangerous part of a language teaching process, because students can easily get lost if the teacher doesn’t follow the necessary steps. I guess the teacher should first choose the reading material according to his/her students’ level. So İ+1 principle should be taken into consideration. Pre-reading part is also vital in terms of getting the students’ attention. The teacher should introduce the topic in such a way that curiosity of the students should be aroused. For example: the teacher can narrate a memory of her/ him about the topic or she can ask some questions and give the impression that they are going to find the answers in the passage. I think teachers should appreciate ideas or guesses of the students about both the general text and specific parts like vocabulary in the text or dome unfamiliar structures. And students should be provided with the meanings of these unfamiliar structures or with at least some clues if they have hard times understanding the text. Otherwise, the comprehensibility of the passage will decrease and students will be discouraged and bored.
My answer to Dilara’s question
ReplyDeleteI think, questions and critiques are very important for a reading activity, because otherwise it turns out to be a translation activity. I mean just translating a text is not a reading activity. Questions asked both by the students and the teacher and their sharing ideas or knowledge or memories about the topic is the soul of a reading activity, because this is the only way to understand what students get from the reading activity. On the other hand, reading passages should contribute to not only grammar and vocabulary knowledge of the students but also feed their knowledge of the world and if a reading activity lacks exchange of ideas, this activity doesn’t fulfill its second duty.
Answer for Dilara's question.
ReplyDeleteI think questions and crituques are really important in a reading activity. there may be students who are not really aware of the topic. They see the title but have no idea what it is about. Therefore questions help them to warp up for the title. Moreover their coprehensin level will definetly increase thanks to the debates occuring in the pre-reading stage.
ı want to answer Dilara's question.
ReplyDeleteduring the lesson we as the teachers try to make students learn in an effective way. we can achieve this by using different methods. however it is also really important to get reflection because we cannot be sure if the students really understand the subject or just pretend as if they understood.therefore; questions and crituques have a significant role in helping us to test students' understanding. besides, we can gain attention of them by asking questions into the subject.
Answer for Seda's question
ReplyDeleteIf the classroom is not that crowded, maybe the teacher can apply some test in the beginning of the semester related to the general interests of the students. Then he can analysis them and
according to the results, he will get a overall idea. Therefore, he choose a reading topic about the general interest of the class. Or he can choose a topic that is related to popular culture or about the recent news. He can also choose reading materials related to a celebrety's life.
as a respond to the Merve's question:
ReplyDeleteactually ı do not find it useful to tell the students always what to read. ı think they should have a chance to choose what to read at least outside the classroom. of course teacher should guide them but in my opinion the books students read must basicly depend on their free will.
Question for reading skills:
ReplyDeleteWhat is the role of dictionary in reading? How can we encourage optimal dictionary reliance while doing reading?
Selman Eser
1529973
For Seda's question;
ReplyDeleteI think that the most important thing is the topic choice and the pre reading part. The reason is obvious. If students like the topic and the introduction of the topic, they will read it more willingly. How should a topic be? In my opinion, as a person wo hates reading, the reading passages should be related to human being directly or indirectly. Every one of us wonder our nature, our body, life or other people's lives. So topics should be interesting as much as possible. Also, the usage of this topic by teacher is extremely important. So teacher should choose the best techniques and make it as enjoyable as possible for students. For post reading part, I think role plays or something related to action is more useful than the boring questions. Additionally pair works or group works are more beneficial for me. Feeling of support encourages students.
The other thing is while reading part. Who will read the topic? Aloud or silent? I think that firstly teacher should read several times aloud and then after students' silent reading, every student should read some parts aloud because teacher should see the individual mistakes. So teacher can give a general feedback to the students.
An answer to gülden's question
ReplyDeleteI think it may be beneficial. Firstly, reading just for pleasure is the own choice of the student himself so he may read more enthusiastically than a compulsory reading.Since he enjoys while reading, it may make the comprehension of the topic easier. Furthermore, reading a newspaper or a magazine has another alternative. It may develop students' vocabulary related to some specific topics. For example; a students reading a magazine on economics can learn the concept and vocabulary related to the that area. It may also be beneficial in this respect : since magazines are published continuosly, it may attract students' interest and enable them to follow and read something for fun. Newspaper and magazines are also be accepted as authentic metarials since they contain some topics related to students' lives, they make reading activities more beneficial ana easier.
For Selman's question;
ReplyDeleteThe importance of dictionary can be seen at beginner levels and young learners because they should learn more words and reading passages are one of the best ways to learn new vocabulary items. However for advanced learners, dictionary usage is too boring and can be seen as a waste of time. Advanced learners can understand the gist very easily just by skimming but for beginners it is hard to do this. So they should use dictionary more offen in reading lessons. About students' encouragement issue, teachers can do some vocabulary games to make them use dictionaries or another but boring thing is "underline the unknown words and find them in dictionary" classic way.
My question..
ReplyDeleteWhat is the role of Reading Aloud in EFL classrooms? Do you think it is beneficial in a particular area or do you think it should not be used in EFL classrooms?
(Ayşenur Erdemir)
My answer to gülden’s question:
ReplyDeleteFirstly what I know about the benefits of extensive reading is increasing in word recognition and vocabulary knowledge. Through this way one can learn grammar inductively. In addition it is obvious that comprehension will increase after extensive reading activities. Some studies present compelling evidence of the improvements in second language acquisition that can be brought about by extensive reading. For example, I found when I am doing some research Elley (1991, pp. 378-379) attributes the success to five factors.
1. Extensive input of meaningful print.
2. Incidental learning.
3. The integration of oral and written activity.
4. Focus on meaning rather than form.
5. High intrinsic motivation.
my answer to dilaras question..
ReplyDeleteI believe the aim of reading activities should be firstly comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. While reading students should know that they are reading for understanding the text. After reading I find beneficial to ask questions related to the text to students, which will increase their comprehension. Furthermore if there is something that one student cannot understand while reading, s/he can have time to understand afterwards or s/he can learn it from the other students or ask it to the teacher. Comprehension questions give the teacher clues about how much students understand the text and what are their levels in comprehension questions.
here is my answer to seda's question: ((:
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion a reading lesson should be very interesting because some children don’t like reading and don’t want to read if you do not make them to do it. However I want my students to read as they want to do it. So there are some ideas to make reading lesson interesting. Generating interest in students is actually up to students’ level, their characteristics and even background information. For example if my students’ level is beginner I use more colorful things reading passages with pictures or if my students’ level is advanced or upper intermediate, I will make them search some topics in the internet and find their best topic and bring it to classroom or I will bring some magazines according to their ages about animals, celebrities, life styles…etc. choosing the topic is the most important part and I think about it very carefully. If my students’ ages are 7-12, I will focus on games and make reading activities with games. Moreover in a video I watched about reading strategies there is a method called text coding. There are some codes like “?”, “!”…etc each means something. For example; “?” means I don’t understand and “!” means I need to read it one more time. At the beginning of the semester I can give these codes to students and during the reading lessons I can understand which part they comprehend better or which part there are unclear parts. Finally I think to generate interest in students for a reading text they should be active and student-student interaction should be supported with group activities. May be they can explain each other what they understand or they can do the exercises together and the lesson should be supported with speaking skill.
my answer to selman's question: ((:
ReplyDeleteThe role of dictionary for the students of EFL is very important and the dictionary is a very useful material to improve reading skills. In fact with the help of dictionary we get more vocabulary knowledge so our reading comprehension gets better. A student who tries to look up one word automatically sees another words and be curious about them. So although he/she doesn’t understand, he/she gets the vocabulary and will remember in the future. To encourage best use of dictionary, I will ask students to bring their dictionary to each lesson and during the pre-reading step unknown vocabulary activity should be made with dictionaries. Students can be groups or pairs to do a dictionary activity and choose one word from the dictionary and try to explain it to their friends without speaking. Then write the dictionary meaning draw a picture of the word.
Here is my answer to Seda’s question:
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways of generating students’ interests while doing a reading activity. First of all, the reading passage should be interesting for the students because if the passage doesn’t appeal to their interests, they won’t read it willingly, so it may not make any sense to them, at all. Another important thing is that the teacher should take into consideration the students’ profile such as age, gender, level while he/she is selecting the text. The teacher should develop students’ awareness of the reading process and help the students know their purpose of reading the text, as well. While doing a reading activity, pre-reading part is the most important for me because it determines the rest of the process of the activity. What I mean is that if the teacher can attract the student’s attention to the topic then the rest of the activity will be more and more enjoyable. For example; before starting the activity the teacher may use a picture, tell a story and draw some charts including the opinions of the students to make them interested in the text. I think, visual aids play a very important role in generating interest in students.
Here is my answer to Ayşenur’s question:
ReplyDeleteReading aloud is simply pronouncing a series of words without regard for the meaning they carry individually and together. I think, the reading aloud technique shouldn’t be used in EFL classrooms because students don’t develop their reading skills by reading aloud in classrooms. While the students are reading aloud, they focus on pronunciation rather than meaning. Reading aloud isn’t productive for the student who is doing it and it is boring for other students to listen to and follow.
Reply to Merve Hopa'question:
ReplyDeleteI think graded readings are good for begining level beause authentic material can scare them. I believe at the beninner and elemantary level we can use such graded reading then at upper and advanced levels we can use authentic materials accorign to L+1 theory. however, at first our aim should be generating interest among students for English. for example, my sister is reading a graded book called "happy prince and selfish giant" in her English course. as you know these stories were written by Oscar Wilde and there is no way of her reaidn such stories in its original text. however, when she reads the graded one she really enjoys it and she becomes motivated for learning English. so we can use graded readings:)
Reply to Merve Hopa's question:
ReplyDeleteGraded books are good for the beginner students since they have not learned so much to read authentic materilas. These graded books can get them motivated and they want to read more. On the other hand, authentic materials should be used with advanced level students.
My answer to Merve’s question
ReplyDeleteI think, they are really useful in terms of comprehensible input :-). Reading the book whose grade is one level upper than the students’ level can easily deal with the problem of Dilara with graded books. Actually, this is the very thing that i+1 means. Just tell the students read books whose grade is one level upper than their level, and then graded books will supply sufficient input for them. I also agree with the comments in which the issue of authenticity of the material is touched on. But, to me, the only problem is not the authenticity; the things written in the book should also attract the reader. I don’t mean the joy the reader gets while reading it. I mean the reader should not read that book just to learn English or just to enjoy himself. The reader should be able to say “I should read that book, because it’s useful for me in terms of..., ..., ....
My answer to Selman’s question
Optimal dictionary reliance is, to some extent, related to the dictionary the students use. If a dictionary is of good quality in terms of the level appropriateness of the language used within the dictionary, good appearance (charming enough to attract the students to use it), and its facilitative characteristic to find words, the reliance on it increases. When we look at our past, we will see that the dictionaries we used more frequently than the other ones are of good quality in terms of abovementioned characteristics. These were for encouraging dictionary reliance, and; of course, dictionary reliance comes before optimal dictionary reliance. Firstly we should supply it. But, how we could encourage optimal dictionary reliance while doing reading? First of all, you should read the passage in advance, before giving it to the students. Then decide on the words that will affect the comprehensibility of the input within the passage, if the meanings of them are not known by the reader, the students. While telling the instructions for the reading passage, include that only the words that you have decided upon should be looked up in the dictionary while reading, because, the learners, especially the young learners are inclined to look up every unfamiliar word in the dictionary. During the first weeks of the term use this strategy and try to teach them looking up words whose meaning is really important for understanding the passage.
My comment about the first part of the question is that, to me, the role of dictionary in reading is significant. During classroom reading activities, unfamiliar words could easily be dealt with by the instructor; either just telling the meaning of the word or making the students understand that meaning through different vocabulary activities could be employed in classes. But, during out-of-class reading, the student needs the dictionary. However, looking up words is boring and time-consuming. To overcome this problem, I think, Babylon is a very good program. Reading on computer with the help of Babylon for finding the meanings of unfamiliar words, will eliminate this problem, I think.